The Senate concurred with the House's amendments to S. B. 152, the Budget Bill. The bill was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor. With the passage of the bill on day 60, the last day of the legislative session, the session will not need to extend to finish the budget, provided what action the governor takes.

This year the budget was able to pass without first needing to go through a conference committee which comes about from disagreements between the House and Senate.

The body amended the House amendments to the following bills and concured and passed as amended:

S. B. 635 - Relating to 2019 salary adjustment for employees of DHHR - was passes unanimously and sent to the House for further consideration.

H. B. 2008 - Relating to the Dealer Recovery Program - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 2655 - Defining and establishing the crime of cyberbullying - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 2799 - Prohibiting the superintendent of schools from requiring a physical examination to be included to the application for a minor’s work permit - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 2869 - Providing for paid leave for certain state officers and employees during a declared state of emergency - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 2982 - Relating to allowing draw games winners to remain anonymous - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 3089 - Relating to the adoption of instructional resources for use in the public schools - was passed 31-2 with one member absent and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4001 - Relating to eligibility and fraud requirements for public assistance - was passed 27-9 with one member absent and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4002 - Providing that all delegates shall be elected from one hundred single districts following the United States Census in 2020 was passes 30-3 with one member absent and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4006 - Revising the processes through which professional development is delivered for those who provide public education - was passed 18-15 and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4009 - State Settlement and Recovered Funds Accountability Act - was passed 22-11 with one member absent and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4036 - Increasing the maximum salaries of family case coordinators and secretary-clerks - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4150 - Prohibiting telecommunications and IP-enabled voice services from displaying the name or telephone number of the recipient - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4156 - Establishing the qualifications of full and part time nursing school faculty members - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4157 - Eliminating the refundable exemption for road construction contractors - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4166 - Establishing a special revenue fund to be known as the "Capital Improvements Fund - Department of Agriculture Facilities" - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4187 - Business Liability Protection Act - was passed 32-1 with one member absent and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4217 - Permitting an attending physician to obtain a patient’s autopsy report - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4233 - Relating generally to fraudulent transfers - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4251 - Permitting employees of baccalaureate institutions and universities outside of this state to be appointed to board of governors - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4270 - Providing for the timely payment of moneys owed from oil and natural gas production - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4320 - Limiting the ability of an agent under a power of attorney to take self-benefiting actions - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4324 - Relating to the employment of individuals by municipal paid fire departments under civil service - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4338 - Relating to the powers and authority of the Divisions of Administrative Services, and Corrections and Rehabilitation of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety - was passed 32-1 with one member absent and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4345 - Relating to limitations on permits for growers, processors and dispensaries of medical cannabis - was laid over for one day.

H. B. 4350 - Eliminating the regulation of upholstery - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4389 - Expiring funds to the Enterprise Resource Planning System Fund - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4392 - Relating to Medicaid subrogation liens of the Department of Health and Human Resources - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4394 - Relating to forest fires - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4424 - Providing that the Ethics Act applies to certain persons providing services without pay to state elected officials - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4428 - Allowing training hours earned through public school education or apprenticeship to count towards an applicant’s occupational certification - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4431 - Establishing the Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Authority - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4447 - Providing for a uniform and efficient system of broadband conduit installation - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4465 - Authorizing the acupuncture board to issue certificates to perform auricular acudetox therapy - was laid over for one day.

H. B. 4486 - Relating to persons required to obtain a license to engage in the business of currency exchange - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4488 - Relating to the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Authority - was passed 31-1 with two members absnet and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4524 - Establishing guidelines for the substitution of certain biological pharmaceuticals - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4558 - Establishing the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investment Fund in the West Virginia Development Office - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4603 - Providing immunity from civil liability to facilities and employees providing crisis stabilization - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4628 - Relating to authorizing the redirection of amounts collected from certain surcharges and assessments on workers' compensation insurance policies for periods prior to January 1, 2019 - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4629 - Relating to broadband enhancement and expansion policies generally - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

After several hours of debate, the House of Delegates unaimously passed its version of the Budget Bill.

House Bill 4019 was discussed and 13 amendments to the amendment offered during a debate that lasted until about 11 p.m. Thursday. All amendments were rejected except one, which was offered by Del. Eric Nelson and adopted.

The strike and insert amendment offered by Del. Eric Nelson was also adopted.

The House attempted to suspend rules for the Senate's budget bill, Senate Bill 152, but voted the constitutional rule suspension down.

The House is adjourned until 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Thursday, March 08, 2018 - 07:03 PM

House Concurs with Senate, Passes Bills, In Recess

The House convened today at 11 a.m. during the fifty-eighth day of session.

The House concurred with the Senate and completed legislaion on the following bills:

S. B. 152 - Budget Bill - was passed unanimously and sent to the House for further consideration.

S. B. 633 - Expiring funds from Insurance Commission Fund and appropriating funds to Consolidated Medical Services Fund - was passed unanimously and ordered to the House for further consideration.

S. B. 634 - Adding, increasing, and decreasing appropriations from General Revenue to DHHR - was passed unanimously and ordered to the House for further consideration.

H. B. 2028 - Relating to the venue for suits and other actions against the state - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4214 - Increasing penalties for unlawfully possessing or digging ginseng - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4276 - Allowing magistrates to grant work release privileges - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4336 - Updating the schedule of controlled substances - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4376 - Expiring funds to the balance of the Department of Health and Human Resources - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4379 - Supplementing, amending, decreasing, and increasing items of the existing appropriations to the Department of Transportation - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4401 - Relating to the registration of business - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4453 - Relating to judicial review of contested cases under the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Board of Review - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4529 - Relating to oath by municipal official certifying list of delinquent business and occupation taxes - was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4571 - Relating to the final day of filing announcements of candidates for a political office - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4618 - Relating to the authority of the Division of Protective Services - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4627 - Relating to providing a limitation on the eminent domain authority of a municipal park board - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

The Senate refused to concur with the House's amendments to S. B. 545 and requested the House recede its amendments.

H. B. 4016 - Relating to combatting waste, fraud, and misuse of public funds through investigations, accountability and transparency - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4035 - Creating a legislative coalition to study and report to the Legislature on palliative care - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4042 - Redefining school zone to facilitate placement of school zone signs - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4183 - Relating generally to standardized testing requirements for nonpublic schools - was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4275 - Relating to the law-enforcement authority of the director and officers of the division of protective services - was passed unanimously and now awaits action by the Governor.

H. B. 4400 - Relating to the West Virginia Physicians Mutual Insurance Company - was passed unanimously and now awaits action by the Governor.

H. B. 4546 - Relating to where an application for a marriage license may be made - was passed unanimously and now awaits action by the Governor. The bill would allow for a person, regardless of the county or state they live in to apply for a W. Va. marriage licences for any county.

The body recieved the committee report from the Conference Committee for H.B. 4145. The committee agreed to the House version of the bill and will give a 5 percent raise for teachers, school service personnel and the state police. All state employees will be recieving a 5 percent raise along with those mentioned in H. B. 4145 in an amendment to the Budget Bill, S. B. 152.

The House convened at 11 a.m. today during the fifty-sixth day of session.

The House voted to suspend the rules to bring House Bill 4145 to the floor for passage after the House and Senate conferees agreed on the original House Bill. H.B. 4145 would provide a five percent raise to State Troopers, public school teachers and school service personnel. The bill passed unanimously in the House and in the Senate.

S. B. 561 - Increasing minimum contract price requiring execution of bond with respect to building or repairing school property

S.J.R 12 - no Constitutional right to abortion amendment - was the topic of hours of debate in the House of Delegates. The resolution will be put on the WV General Election ballot in November and will allow residents of WV the ability to end medicaid funded abortions in the state. Many delegates expressed their concern about the issue.

The body refused to concur with the House amendments to S.B. 46 and requested the House recede its amendments.

H. B. 2889 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor. The bill would allow veterans who served as military police, law-enforcement specialist, or other equivalent rankings to take exams for probationary police officers without going through the class.

H. B. 2995 was passed unanimously and was sent to the House to concur. The bill would allow a person with an animal euthanasia license from another state to apply for a W. Va. license. The applicant's out of state certification must meet or be higher than the W. Va. standards.

H. B. 4238 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor. The bill would allow counties and municipalities to establish a joint airport hazard comprehensive plan.

S.C.R. 51 was taken up for immediate consideration. The resolution would extend the time for the Conference Committee on H. B. 4013 to meet for three days. The committee had scheduled a committee, but due to the House's floor session could not meet.

After a short recess until 7:50 p.m. the body recieved the House's amended version of the bill changing the extension to one day. The Senate concured to the House's amendment and a new meeting will be scheduled.

The committee heard from counsel a general overview for the Com. Sub. for the Budget Bill. Counsel is estimating the bill currently with the old Fiscal Year 2019 Official Estimate provided by the Governor on January 10 and bills that are curently passed. The bill will be adjusted within the next few days to be updated as legislation is passed.

The committee considered H. B. 4145, Increasing the annual salaries of members of the West Virginia State Police, public school teachers and school service personnel.

The committee discussed raising the salaries of all public employees not mentioned in H. B. 4145 with the one percent taken from the teachers, school service personnel and state police. Public employee salaries are set in the Budget Bill and the discussed raise for their salaries would be in a proposed amendment to the Budget Bill in the future. The increase would not be included in H. B. 4145.

According to Boso public employees have not had a raise in 12 years.

Senator John Unger (D - Berkeley, 16) spoke against the amendment, arguing that the proposed raise would keep teachers, school service personnel and state police in line with inflation.

Boso's amendment was adopted by the committee and the bill as amended was reported out of committee.

The bill as repoted by committee will be taken up and deliberated on the floor following the committee's adjournment.

Saturday, March 03, 2018 - 02:36 PM

Teacher Pay Raise, H.B. 4145, Sent to Conference Committee

The Senate convened today at 9:30 a.m.

The body refused to concur with the House amendments to S. B. 134 and has requested the House recede its amendments.

The Senate concured with the House amendments to S. B. 338 and S. B. 415. The bills are now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4268 was passed 23-11 and sent to the House to concur. The bill would allow oil and gas development on property owned by seven or more royalty owners, provided a super majority, 75 percent, of the royalty owners consent. Non-consenting or unknown/unlocatable cotenants will be compensated with a royalty fee "equal to the highest royalty percentage paid to the consenting cotenants in the same property" or by participating in the development to "receive his or her share of the revenue and costs attributable to the tract being developed."

The bill requires consenting cotenants and the operator to search county records, last known addresses, and the internet to find and negotiate with all owners of the estate. In the case that some owners can't be found, their compensation will be placed in the Unknown and Unlocatable Interest Owners Fund. After a certain time, the Treasurer will tranfer half of the funds to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund to plug orphan wells, while the other half is allocated to the Public Employees Insurance Agency Stability Fund.

H. B. 4402 was passed unanimously and was sent to the House to concur. The bill makes changes to the W. Va. Code based on the reccomendation of the State Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children which was created in 2015 through "Erin Merryn's Law". Task Force's reccomendations address changes that could be made in education for grades K-12 and through public employees training to prevent child sexual abuse.

H. B. 4473 was passed unanimously and sent to the House to concur. The bill amends the code relating to 2016's "trinket bill" which has led to severe restrictions on the code determined by the Ethics Commission. The bill redefines the words "advertising" and "press release." It also permits the name and likeness of public official to be used in publicl funded educational materials, press releases intended for legitimate news or informational purposes, and The West Virginia Blue Book and Legislative Manual.

H. B. 2607 was passed unanimously and was sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 2654 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 2693 was passed unanimously and was sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 2983 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 3005 was passed unanimously and was sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4180 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4186 was passed unanimously and was sent to the House to concur.

H. B. 4145 was taken up for immediate consideration. The Finance Committees's amendment to to change the pay raise for teachers, school service personnel and state police officers was adopted by the body 19-15. The bill was then read a third time and passed 21-13 to then be sent to the House to concur.

The Senate took a brief recess to wait for the House's response.

The amendment to the bill had been filed incorrectly when sent to the House Clerk's office. The Senate reconvened and reconsidered the actions taken.

After recalling the bill back to the Senate, the Senate reconsidered passage of the bill, moved the bill to second reading and amended the amendment. The amendment to the amendment corrected the error, making the raise for teachers, school service personnel and state police 4 percent. It passed 19-13 with two members absent.

H. B. 2483 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur. The bill would require the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a correctional facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has been transferred to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who reaches his or her eighteenth birthday.

H. B. 2843 was passed 23-10 and is now awaiting action by the Governor. It would permit Class III municipalities to be included in the West Virginia Tax Increment Act.

H. B. 2916 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur. It would authorize reserve deputies, ambulance crew members, firefighters, rescue squad members and emergency service personnel to carry firearms if the first responders meet the required training specifications explained in the bill. They are also allowed to be reimbursed for the cost of the training.

H. B. 4022 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor. It would extend the existing tax exemption for maintenance and repair of commercial aircraft to aircraft that are owned and leased by private citizens who have a shared ownership agreement.

H. B. 4142 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur. The bill would provide certain employees of the Division of Corrections, Division of Juvenile Services, and West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority a salary adjustment.

H. B. 4169 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur. It would require businesses that are licensed to allow consumption of alcohol on the premises; exotic entertainment facilities; transportation centers; gas stations; medical centers; locations where farm labor contractors and day haulers work; job recruitment centers; public rest areas; and hotels, must post information to help victims of human trafficking. This includes the information for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline.

H. B. 4199 was passed 24-8 and was sent back to the House to concur. it would permit a nursing home to use trained individuals to administer medication. Certification for the training is determined by the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification.

H. B. 4619 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor. The bill would create a new statutory funding allowance within the school aid funding formula computations to support the county-level implementation of comprehensive systems for teacher and leader induction and professional growth.

H. B. 2694 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 2696 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur.

H. B. 2890 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 3104 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4024 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur.

H. B. 4079 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur.

H. B. 4138 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur.

H. B. 4175 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4207 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur.

H. B. 4285 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

H. B. 4332 was passed unanimously and was sent back to the House to concur.

H. B. 4385 was passed unanimously and is now awaiting action by the Governor.

Delegate Amy Summers, R-Taylor, said there has been an increase in patients with Lyme disease who are not getting treatment due to insurance coverage. The bill will now be sent to House Judiciary for consideration.

S.B. 456 would create the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact Act. The bill authorizes the Governor to execute the Act with any one or more of the states of the United States.

S.B. 499 would require one year of certain approved postgraduate clinical training for persons with foreign medical degrees. Currently, the requirement is two years.

Delegate Kelli Sobonya, R-Cabell, moved to amend the bill to change language that made it mandatory, to be permissive instead. The amendment was adopted by the committee.

The bill proposes an additional reason, if a parent has failed to volunatrily contact their child for 18 months. The bill defines some exemptions to be involuntary such as a parent being incarcerated, in substance abuse rehabilitation, or in the military. This would be determined by DHHR, a multi-disciplinary program and go through circuit courts to decide action.

S.B. 401 would require specified coverage in health benefit plans for treatment of substance abuse disorders. The bill will now be sent to Judiciary.

S.B. 510 would designate hospitals for stroke treatment.

S.B. 273 would reduce use of certain prescription drugs. The bill was passed as amended with second reference to Judiciary.

Thursday, March 01, 2018 - 04:35 PM

Senate Moves Pay Raise Bill to Finance Committee

The Senate convened today at 11:30 a.m.

The Senate recieved H. B. 4145, Increasing the annual salaries of members of the West Virginia State Police, public school teachers and school service personnel. Senator Roman Prezioso (D - Marion, 13) moved to take the bill up for immediate consideration. The motion was tabled in a 20-14 vote and was then sent to the Finance committee.

The Senate adopted S.R. 53, recognizing Glenville State College for its efforts in making education more affordable, S.R. 57, designating March 1, 2018, as Innovation and Entrepreneurship Day, and S.R. 58, recognizing guiding principles and partnership of WV Forward's initiatives.